Hey everyone! I have a new toy with which to make my blog entries. A laptop! They tell me it is really good, not that I can really tell the difference. :) I would rather it was a Mac, but the deal was very sweet. I may even have a web cam up and running soon...if I decide to be that much on display. Tomorrow I am off to (hopefully) sunny Stratford to go shopping. Recognize the music anyone? I used to sing that while my mother played the piano, when I was just a wee lass. sigh :)

Playing with colours can be a lot of fun, but there are other things I should be doing I am sure. Like taking a hot bath in some of my favourtive bubble bath. Whether or not I believe that I can really make a difference by indulging my consumeristic self pampering whims by choosing more carefully where I shop, I can pretend I am making a difference at least. I am sure it makes for great marketing if not great politics. Well, all my highschool friends and I used to love to hang out in Body Shops and sample everything, and I worked up quite a collection of lip balm and bubble bath. One of my friends even overdoesed on lip balm, as it were. Her doctor told her not to use it any more as her lips were no longer producing their own moisture. That was our drug of choice I guess. :) TTFN

My Atanarjuat link didn't work in the previous entry, so here it is again.
S

I went to see Atanarjuat, The Fast Runner tonight. It was a great movie, as no doubt one would expect from a movie that got four stars from the Globe. It was a lot longer than I had expected, more than three hours, but all worth seeing. There were some very funny moments, like when Oki unknowingly pisses on Atanarjuat who is hiding in a pile of seaweed. There were also some very poignant moments, such as the humiliation of Atuat, Atanarjuat's wife, while Atanarjuat is in exile.
What I found facinating, beyond the great story, was to see how they lived, dressed, ate, prepared their houses and dog sleds, and so on. All that day to day stuff in full colour and action, not in some museum behind glass. It was incredibly vivid to watch.
One thing which I found particularly interesting was the way in which they lived completely from the local environment, no imports or globalization here. All their clothes, food, heat, light, shelter, from the forbidding Arctic ecosystem. Also, while they are clearly 'envirionmentally friendly' and all that, they are complete carnivores, living primarily on meat and eggs. In one scene Atuat picks some very tiny flowers and eats them, but that was about the only vegetable matter I saw anyone eat. It made me think that vegetarianism isn't required to be eco-friendly. I was also amazed at how nothing was wasted. No comsumerism mentality here. However, there was definitely a certain amount of classism. Atanarjuat's father, in the beginning of the film, was having bad luck hunting and had to live off the charity meat, (the rear end) of the kills of his relatives. Likewise, the quality of fur and decoration on the parkas indicated the wearer's relative possition in the family group. Well, I didn't expect an idealized world. I definitely loved the women's hair though...perhaps I will try out a couple of new things with my hair. And aren't those sunglasses cool? I think everyone should get a pair. :)
Sumaarsita signing off...